


New Game Plus

by Aetheron



Series: New Game Plus [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, POV First Person, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-04 19:22:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14027052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aetheron/pseuds/Aetheron
Summary: Max accidentally finds herself back at the start of it all.





	1. Chapter 1

The sound of the gun going off in the bathroom is deafening. I know it's impossible, but somehow it feels like it's even louder than it was the first time, leaving my ears ringing.

Not ringing hard enough though. I can still hear the wet thud as my best friend's body hits the floor, hear her pained gasps as Nathan runs out of the bathroom.

I can't do this.

I'm so sorry, Chloe. I know I promised you, but I can't do this. I can't just sit here and listen to you die again.

Before I even register what I'm doing, the world goes blurry and starts gray out at the edges as my power wrenches the normally steady march of time into reverse.

There's a crash, and the sound of plastic snapping as I reach for the hammer to break the fire alarm.

"Alfred Hitchcock famously called film "little pieces of time" but he could be talking about photography, as he likely was."

Wait, what?

I'm all the way back in Mr. Jefferson's photography classroom? Instead of grabbing the hammer to break the glass, I apparently just knocked my camera off my desk... again.

Mr. Jefferson is _looking at me._

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

"These pieces of time can frame us in our glory and our sorrow; from light to shadow; from color to chiaroscuro…"

He doesn't know we're investigating him yet. I'm safe for now.

Listening to him talk is just my penance for not being able to go through with things. I'll just have to ride this out, save Chloe, and then I can return to… wait... something's wrong with this picture.

Think, Max, think.

"...Anybody?"

I just can't seem to put my finger on it.

I guess I won't know until I reach the bathroom again? That's where it all- No. _This_ is sort of where it all began, isn't it? I had that vision of the tornado _right here_ in this seat.

... _before_ Chloe was shot. And then I rewound back to just after that vision finished.

I've never been able to rewind to before this moment in time.

Hope flares in my chest. Maybe I can make things work out after all? But if Chloe wasn't the start of the tornado then… what was? I'll to talk to her about it when I get back to the present. Oh no.

"Bueller?"

If I even can get back to the present. Back to Chloe.

Looking around the classroom, that strange barrier that keeps me from leaving the context of a photo is... missing. Come to think of it, from my experiences with photo-hops I shouldn't have been able to leave the bathroom at all.

But... here I am, and that dull throb in my back of my mind that I've usually had while my powers are keeping me in the past is gone too. There's no sense of it for me to release. No sense I can return to the present. Am I back here for real? Do I need to do it all over again? I don't think I could do it all over again.

I guess I won't know until I reach the bathroom again. Either way, noble sacrifice or not, I'm definitely not letting Chloe get shot.

"Diane Arbus."

Oh, gag me with a spork. I can't believe I'm going to have to watch Victoria trying to throw herself at Jefferson again all while knowing… Hoo boy. Bad, Max. No dwelling on The Dark Room.

Deep breath in… and out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Find something else, anything else, to focus on. Come on, Max, you can do this. Just find something else to focus on.

Spotting the paper Taylor threw at Kate gives me my answer.

_Rewind._

Letting myself get swept up along with everyone else, I watch as the paper recrumples and then lifts back into the air, I almost release the flow of time before remembering my broken camera. Whoops. Poor camera. I'm almost as hard on you as I am Lisa.

Just a bit further… There! Camera, unbroken, back on my desk.

"Alfred Hitchcock famously called film "little pieces of time" but he could be talking about photography, as he likely was."

Deep breaths, Max. He's not going to hurt you in a room full of witnesses. Focus on the task at hand. I think Stella dropped her pen? Yup. There it goes.

"These pieces of time can frame us in our glory and our sorrow; from light to shadow; from color to chiaroscuro…"

Lean forward like I'm paying attention instead of trying desperately to ignore the psycho teaching the class and… damn! I missed it.

Rewinding again and trying to use my powers with a feather light touch to slow the paper down, I reach out and snag it out of the air. Cool. I wasn't sure that would work. 

Taylor and Victoria glare at me.

I stare back at them but I'm apparently going to have to work on my 'Disappointed Joyce' impression though, because they just seem to find it amusing.

The rest of class passes in a bit of a blur as I slowly rip Taylor's note into itty bitty pieces, using it and the knowledge that I'll get to see Chloe again soon like a pair of earmuffs to block out Jefferson's voice and my own memories. When it finally rings, I don't think the end of class bell has ever sounded so good.

Packing up my stuff, I resist the urge to race straight to the bathroom.

"Hi, Kate." I sit down next to her and scoot my seat over.

"Oh. Hi, Max." I've had all class to get used to seeing her looking so sad, but hearing her voice sound so quiet is like a punch to the gut.

The desks are in the way of giving her the proper hug I really want to, so I settle for putting an arm around her shoulders. "It's going to be okay, Kate. It's going to be okay."

She startles at bit at the touch- I was never a very huggy friend- but after a moment she leans into it and rests her head on my shoulder.

Sitting there, I find myself hoping for maybe the first time that I really am stuck back here in the past. As much as I want to get back to Chloe, I can't stand the idea of Kate being swept up in that storm. Until I sort out a way to save both Chloe and this town, the very least I owe Kate is however slightly happier I can make these next few days. 

"Thanks, Max. I think I needed that."

"Me too, Kate. Me too." Pulling back, I force a smile onto my face for her trying desperately to recall how our chat went last time.. "Hey, I know we've both got a ton of homework, but we should grab a cup of tea soon. Bitch about life."

"Thanks, I'd like that. Not today though. I'm not really feeling that great."

"Okay, Katie. We'll hang later." Knowing what she's planning, I feel like I should really push harder for her to hang out but I'm not sure if I'll actually remember this conversation in 10 minutes. I don't want to let her down.

Waving goodbye, I set off for the bathroom. To Chloe!

"I see you, Max Caulfield. Don't even think about leaving here until we talk about your entry."

ARE YOU CEREAL!?

How did I forget about that?

Deep breath in… and out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Getting myself under control enough to rewind, I let myself be swept up in the reversal until I'm back at Kate's desk. Hugging the stuffing out of her until she squeaks in protest, I use one last rewind to set our conversation back in order before I'm feeling ready to brave the classroom door again.

Breathe in. Breathe out. One foot in front of the other, Max.

Just think of Chloe.

"I see you, Max Caulfield. Don't even think about leaving here until we talk about your entry."

Don't turn around.

Don't look at him.

Just think of Chloe.

...Chloe!

Rewinding away my stuttered half step as realization dawned on me, I let time start back up just after he finished speaking. "I'm meeting my hero in just a few minutes, Mr. Jefferson." Holding my camera above my head and waving it back and forth slightly, I force my legs to keep going, to not break stride. "I'll be sure to take lots of shots."

The door clicks shut behind me without any further protest and I manage to make it a few steps down the hall before collapsing against the lockers gasping for air as I fight back what I assume is a panic attack.

"Hey, Max. Are you okay?" I almost lose it entirely as a hand settles on my shoulder before recognizing Juliet's voice. Looking up, I see her dark green eyes staring down at me with concern. Zachary is behind her looking annoyed at the interruption, the two-timing jerk. Heaven forbid Juliet should try and be a decent person. I bet he's already sexting Vic-

Heh.

That's it, Max! Anger is so much better than panic.

Once again reversing the flow of time, hold the rewind until I'm on my feet a few backwards steps down the hall.

Marching myself right up to Juliet and Zachary and returning her earlier favor, I put my hand on her shoulder and a smile on my face. "Juliet Watson! You… ummm… _shit!_ " Okay, wow. I hella suck at this. _Rewind!_

Maybe I just won't get involved yet, it's not like past me didn't sort everything out eventually anyway and who am I to deny her the joy of snooping around Victoria's room?

Hmmm… Victoria. What would Victoria do?

Oh!

Hand back on Juliet's shoulder, I instead stare pointedly at Zachary. "Really, Zach? Sexting Victoria during class? Real classy." Now I look Juliet in the eyes, and wear my best, 'is he cereal?' expression. "It's like he didn't realize Juliet Watson, X-treme Reporter, would have sources all over school." Patting her on the back, I walk away as she pounces all over Zachary's pathetic attempts to claim that it was all some kind of joke. I guess the idiot thought he'd get points for not even bothering to deny it?

There. That should save past me some grief. Or... future me, I suppose, if really am back in the past.

Hand on the bathroom door, I pause and take a deep breath before shoving the idea of the Chloe that kissed me as our world ended might be gone aside with as much force as I do the door and step inside.

There's no immediate sense of my power kicking back on, no boundary springing up to keep me here, nothing to indicate I'm inside a photo.

I'm also apparently just in time to recreate my shot of that blue butterfly as it settles down on the bucket.

I grab the hammer and wait as Nathan and Chloe arrive, ready to smash the alarm the moment he pulls the gun but a thought stops me. When I tried to report him to Principal Wells, I had no proof and he got away with it.

I rewind the hammer back onto the floor so as not to make any noise, take out my camera, and resume waiting.

Popping out from behind the stalls as Nathan takes out his gun, I snap a shot of Nathan waving it in Chloe's face.

The moment I realize the flash went off, my right hand comes up. Slowing time to a crawl in case I need to rewind, I twist sideways and throw myself back behind cover as Nathan whirls around with his gun. "Max?" The sound of Chloe's saying my name coming in super low and deep as it's distorted by the slowed time.

The gun goes off with a flash and a low rumbling boom, the bullet drifting past me just inches from my face. Holy shit! Even slowing everything down I'd never have dodged that if it had actually been aimed better.

The whole almost being shot thing would probably seem like a bigger deal if turning the way I did hadn't brought the butterfly back into view as it flits around at normal speed.

...what?

My grip on the flow of time collapses at the shock of it.

"Max!" The bullet shatters the tile on the the bathroom wall where it hits, Chloe's enraged scream, the dull thuds and moans of her and Nathan fighting, even the flare of pain as my ass hits the floor all barely registering as I watch the blue butterfly land on one of the mirrors and then vanish.

Reality crashes back down on me. "Chloe!" Shaking my head and scrambling onto my feet I rush out to help my friend, only to find her standing over a battered looking unconscious Nathan and in the midst of kicking him once more for good measure. Bloodied nose aside, she looks fine as she glares down at him.

Making sure to wait for her to look up at me, so that she can see my broad smile, I try once more to let go of the photo-hop.

It doesn't work. Somehow I broke the loop and now there's no photo-hop to let go of. 

A day ago, the idea I'm contemplating would have terrified me. Hell, an _hour_ ago it would have terrified me. It still does, really, but for Chloe? _Bring it on._ Bring it on a thousand times.

Darting forward before she can try and run away like she did last time, I rewind just enough that it looks like I just teleported forward. "First Mate Supermax reporting for duty, Captain."

...

Should I have saluted? I should have saluted. Is it worth rewinding time just so I can do it properly and salute?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not 100% sure how well the rapid fire rewinds to pre-emptively solve issues flows.  
> Please let me know if the whole thing is just super confusing, if you find a particular point that could use a bit of clarification, or, Dog forbid, spot a typo I missed.

Gunshots are loud. Something I’d somehow managed to forget in the hour that I’d spent freaking the fuck out over being back in Jefferson’s class.

Walking out of the bathroom with Chloe after I’d explained the basics enough to calm her down, I’d sort of assumed we’d need to go looking for David and Principal Wells, not have the two of them-

“...all up in our bidness!”

Yeah, that. Thank you, Chloe. _Rewind!_

Captain Chloe ‘Bluebeard’ Price and her trusty First Mate Supermax Silver versus... _The Dread Bathroom Door._ Round 2. Fight!

Er- Actually... if I’m rewinding _anyway_ … Might as well go just a touch further...

"First Mate Supermax reporting for duty, Captain." _This time_ I remember to salute, though…  given how startled she looks at my sudden appearance, I don’t know if she even noticed. Ah well. “We have to hurry, Campus Security are already on their way.”

“ _Shit!”_ In the face of time travel happening right in front of her, well… _face_ … Chloe latches onto the less crazy idea like a lifeline. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

“I know, that’s what they're going to say too.”

“What?”

“Oh, right... 'I'm a Time Traveler, the Cliff Notes edition,' round 2…”

 

**\---**

 

“...anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

Ungh. _Rewind!_

“Give me the gun, Chloe.”

“What?” She glances over at Nathan’s gun laying on the ground in one of the stalls.

“Not that gun.” I point at her back left pocket. “The one you took from David’s safe.”

“How the fuck did you...”

 

**\---**

 

I stare, dumbstruck, at Principal Wells.

ARE.

YOU.

CEREAL!?

 _Re-_ no. First, I’m taking a moment to scream incoherently at Principal Wells until my frustrations start to ebb. Fuck it, I am so re-stealing that money from his desk before I leave.

There, all screamed out, I feel much better now. _Rewind!_

Pulling out my phone, I shoot off a couple of quick texts to Juliet.

 

**\---**

 

“Those are some very serious charges, Miss Caulfield. Mr. Prescott happens to be from the town's most distinguished family. And one of Blackwell's most honored students. I'll look into the matter personally, however, I think it would be for the best if we didn’t go needlessly ruining anyone’s reputation until the investigation is complete.”

“Ooooh… Umm… sir?” I try to sound apologetic, or at least not smug. I have no idea if I actually succeed or not. “I kind of already told Juliet Watson about everything.” I feign confusion over why Principal Wells looks like he just sucked on a lemon.

Chloe has no such success at subtlety, snorting loudly in the chair next to me as she tries to hold in a laugh. “Was she the chick I saw snapping pics of the bullet hole while we were being hauled in here?”

“Yeah, she runs the school paper.”

Not joining Chloe in cackling like a mad woman gets harder as Principal Wells starts eyeing the drawer he hides his booze in.

 

**\---**

 

 _Chloe, why!?_ Why would you say that to him!?

“Now you listen here, Soldier…”

We were _so close!_

_Rewind!_

“And I need you to please _try_ not to antagonize Dav-”

“How the fuck are doing that!?”

“Doing what?”

“Teleporting around like that!”

“Huh? I told you, time travel.”

“You told me no such thing!”

“Yes I did! I-” I check my watch. “Fuck! Went back too far!”

...I have to do it all again now. Move one step to the right, start saluting, and... _Rewind!_

"First Mate Supermax reporting in from the future, Captain."

 

**\---**

 

“That was hella cool, Maximus. I’ve never seen anyone so thoroughly handle Step-Douche like that before.”

“Chloe…” Glancing at the happy grin on Chloe’s face, I decide not to bother her with being nice to David just yet and just let her enjoy her moment. Taking a look around for eavesdroppers as we _finally_ make our way out of the main building and towards the parking lot, I drop my voice to a whisper even though I don’t see anyone. “Do you really think they bought it?”

“Hook, line and sinker! Mad Max has got one bad ass poker face.”

“Pfft. Yeah right, I so don’t.” I drag my hand down my face, checking to make sure my nose isn’t bleeding. “What I have is a migraine. I really don’t want to have to go through all that a seventh time.”

“A seventh… Hold up! You only flickered in and out or whatever twice.”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah, that only happens if I don’t rewind myself back into position along with everyone else.”

“So, wait... you mean you can just go back time whenever you want and no one would ever know? Even if I was staring right at you?”

“Uh… basically?”

“That’s… Amazeballs! When you said you were from the future I thought you meant like in Terminator or something. I was kinda waiting for the evil robot to bust into the office this whole time.”

“Oh, Dog, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!” I hold out my hand. “Come with me if you want to live!”

“Chloe and Max, together again!” She grabs my hand. “This is gonna be so awesome!” 

Pulling her over to me by our joined hands, I fish my camera out of my bag and hold it up to capture the moment. “Partners in crime, partners in time!”

“Seriously, Max? You’re such a dork.”

“Hey! You came up with it.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, after we-”

“Max!” Turning, we spot Dana waving at us as she walks towards us from the parking lot. “Hey, Max!”

“Hey, Dana!”

“I was just about to text you to let you know I gave Warren back his flash drive. You actually just missed him by like... minutes.”

“Thank you so much for doing that. I really didn’t want to make him wait around while I…” I wave my hand dismissively towards the school, shrugging my shoulders in a ‘you know’ gesture.

“Jeez. Are Wells and Madsen seriously only just letting you guys out? Oh!” She smiles at Chloe. “I’m Dana by the way. You're the girl who put all those flyer's right?”

“Yeah. Chloe. And yeah, apparently school shootings are like this whole _thing_ or whatever.”

Dana opens her mouth and then closes it again. “... Good point. Juliet showed me the pictures she got of the cracked tiles. Scary stuff.” Her eyes widen. “Oh, jeez. And you two were _right there_. That must have been terrifying.”

I shrug, having calmed down considerably in the past-- for me, anyway-- 6 hours. “I’m fine. Chloe was there with me the whole time and-”

Wait, no. I need to stick to the story I told David.

Dana looks at me, apparently alarmed by my abrupt silence. “Are you okay?”

Ungh… I hate lying to people.

_Rewind!_

...That must have been terrifying.”

“It. Was. _Awful._ ” Hopefully the twinge of pain in my voice from the way my head is throbbing comes across as fear or distress or whatever. “Nathan was being a total loon. Like full on waving a gun around while talking to himself and everything.” Talking about it directly like this actually is bringing back a little bit of the panic I felt watching the bullet come so close to my face. ...Fuck. “He missed me by _inches!_ ”

Apparently, my feelings are on full display because this time Dana goes so far as to put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… I almost died but-”

But doesn’t it say something about my life that a bullet missing me by inches isn’t the closest I’ve gotten to dying in the past few days?

No. Bad, Max. Do _not_ think about The Dark Room.

Deep breath in...

...And out.

“Jesus, Max.”

Deep breath in...

...And out.

“I’m…” I don’t know when Chloe started rubbing circles on my back, but it’s helping. “I’m okay. Thanks guys. I’m actually more worried about Kate than me.”

Dana’s expression turns puzzled. “Because of the video?”

“Nathan drugged her.”

“...What?” Dana pales. “Are you sure?”

I glance over at Chloe, hoping she’ll be able to back me up here since despite what she says, I really _don’t_ have a good poker face. “It was one of the things he was going on about before he realized I was in the bathroom with him.”

“Yeah.” Chloe sighs loudly, scratching the back of her head uncomfortably. “He… uh... did it to me too a few weeks ago. Put something in my beer. Next thing I know I’m waking up on the floor of his dorm with the creep taking pictures of me. I woke up before anything more could happen, still had all my clothes on and shit, thank god, but...” She shudders.

Wow… I didn’t actually expect her to bring that up. Grabbing her hand, I give it a squeeze that she returns.

“Oh, God.” Dana looks like she wants to puke. “Juliet and I were laughing about- Oh, God.”

“Hey.” I pull her into a hug. “You didn’t know.”

“Still! I feel like _such_ a bitch.”

“Come on, don't blame yourself. You didn’t post that video.”

Dana sniffs against my shoulder before pulling back, her face twisting into a scowl. “No, _that_ honor goes to Victoria Chase.” She frowns. “I think.”

“Probably.” I shrug. “But I doubt even Queen Bitchtoria would have posted that video if she’d known.”

“Maybe not.” Dana sighs. “I’m... I think I'm going to go talk to Juliet, let her know.”

“That sounds good. Hey… Do me a favor? I don’t know when I’m going to be back tonight, so could you check in on Kate for me? Let her know we’re here for her and that she can call me any time if she needs anything?”

“Of course, Max. You really are too nice for words.”

Oh, Dana, if only knew even half the stuff I’ve done.

Waving goodbye to Dana, I start to resume our trek towards the parking lot when Chloe suddenly stops me, grabbing my arm and spinning me around to face her. “Holy shitballs, Max!” She grins broadly, her eyes following Dana as she walks away. “I just realized something: You can bang anyone you want with no strings attached! Just… rewind time, and boom, it's like it never happened!”

“Ha!” Despite the mounting headache and the slight hurt in my chest that Chloe got that idea this time while staring at Dana’s-- Okay, so admittedly the way Dana’s hips sway back and forth as she walks is pretty hypnotic and- Are you cereal, Brain? How in Dog’s name did we never notice I was gay? Meh.-- I still can’t help the fond smile creeping onto my face as I turn back towards her lecherous grin. “You know, you said the exact same thing last time too… But I would never-”

...Oh.

_Shit._

I _already did._

Chloe’s never going to remember our first kiss. Or second.

“Oh, c’mon. You can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it. Ooooh…” Her eyes focus back on me with a smirk on her lips. Knowing what she’s going to say next, I force myself to smile despite how close to home she's about to hit. “Maybe you even made a move on me! I would never...” She trails off as she looks at me, frowning. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah...” I guess I’m not doing such good job faking it, that sounded weak even to me. “...No…”

Chloe’s left eyebrow goes up. “There something you wanna tell your Captain, First Mate Supermax?”

“Everything, Chloe. I want to tell you everything.”

“ _Everything_ , huh?”

“Yes, _everything_ , you Perv.” I roll my eyes at her. “Just as soon as we get to your truck and away from all... _this._ Now drag your mind out of the gutter for a few minutes so we can get a move on!”

“Hey, I like my gutter.”

“Fine, but if you don’t hurry up I’ll do things like let you know that _you’re the one_ that double dared me to kiss you--” I take off running for the parking lot. “--and then not explain til you catch me!”

“Wait, _what?_ Max? Max, come back here! _Max!_ "


	3. Chapter 3

Racing into the parking lot, I’m briefly surprised to see that Frank’s RV isn’t there this time until I spot the pair of police patrol cars that _are_.

Chloe’s truck, of course, is right where I’d expect it to be: parked sideways across two spaces one of which is handicapped only. We’re lucky the cops are all too busy dealing with Nathan to have her ticketed. Or towed.

I’m depressingly out of breath when I reach said truck, hauling the passenger side door open to throw myself inside. The important thing though is that I managed to make it to safety before Chloe could catch me. And _without_ needing to rewind at all, go me!

“So…” Chloe opens and climbs in the drivers side. “I dared you to kiss me?”

“Double dared me.”

“And then..?”

“And then…” I shrug as nonchalantly as I can. “You didn’t catch me.”

“What?”

“I said I’d explain when you caught me.” I make a show of inspecting my fingernails. “I got to the truck before you.”

“Fair enough.”

“Really?” I up from my fingernails just in time to see her leaning towards me before the tickling starts.

“ _Chloe,”_ I manage to get out between laughs, _“no!_ ”

“Chloe, yes!”

We’re both smiling like the idiots we are as she relents. “It’s not even a good story, you just laughed, called me hardcore, and then Joyce and I made breakfast.”

“You kissed me in front of mom!?”

“ _What?_ Oh, no… she was downstairs making breakfast when you dared me, I went down to help her afterwards while you smoked.”

“Damn, Max.” Chloe laughs. “That _is_ pretty hardcore if I needed a cigarette after just a kiss."

I open my mouth, but then close it again, deciding I don’t want to bother with correcting her.

“So…” Chloe starts up the truck. “What’s the plan, Future-girl?”

“Plan?” I can feel another round of giggles force its way out of me as I think about how many different things went wrong just trying to _escape a bathroom_. “You think I have a _plan?_ ”

“Uhh…” she pauses in the middle of buckling her seatbelt to look over at me. “Yeah..? I mean, you have _superpowers,_ Max. You can’t have come back in time just to like… save _me_ from getting shot or whatever.”

_Oh._

“No, I uh…”

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Nope, not working. Apparently it’s sob like a baby time.

“I was supposed to-”

Pulling my feet up onto the seat, I hug my knees. That’s supposed to help, right?

“I can’t believe I almost-”

It’s not helping.

“I was supposed to let you die.”

Oh, yeah. It’s totally sob like a baby time.

“But I couldn’t do it and then when I tried to go back to you and I couldn’t do that either.”

 

\---

 

“...and then you kissed me, and made me promise to never forget you.”

“...Fuck.” The shoulder I’m leaning against shakes as the back of Chloe’s head bounces against her headrest. Staring at the ceiling, she exhales a deep breath while I try and get myself under control. “The whole town?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s…”

“Yeah.”

We both sit in silence for a moment that just seems to stretch into infinity, staring at the trees surrounding the parking lot.

I have no idea how long actually passes before Chloe starts to drum her thumb on the steering wheel, glancing down at me. “Was it good?”

“What?” I lift my head off her shoulder to look back at her.

“The kiss, Dork. Was it good?”

“So good! I think you turned my brain to mush with it. Mush-brain is the only reason I can think of for why I ever thought I’d be able to go through with…” Letting you die. I make another attempt at wiping my face clean with my sleeve instead of finishing my sentence. “Pretty dumb, right? I mean I barely even recognized you the first time and seeing you get shot upset me so much I got _superpowers_ to fix it.”

“That’s still so… amazeballs to me. Like, I literally get chills all over my neck just thinking about it.” Her head bobbles back and forth as she tries to show me the back of her neck while strapped in. “Did the other me totally freak too when she saw you teleporting around?”

“I... didn’t actually know I could do that yet when I told you about it last time. I wound up playing pretend psychic by ‘predicting’ what was in your pockets and stuff to convince you.”

“ _Lame!_ ”

“Really? You don’t think being psychic would be cool?”

She pauses, looking thoughtful. “I mean, okay, yeah that’s cool too… but it’s not _Nightcrawler Max_ cool. Plus, you’d look hella weird with no hair.”

“Chlo-eeee… and you called _me_ a dork.” I stick my tongue out at her, giggling for a moment before I get myself under control. “Really? Having blue skin and a tail wouldn’t look even weirder?”

“Nah… you’d look _hot_ with blue skin.”

“Whatever, Dork. You really should pay those parking tickets.”

“Not happening, Maxaroni. I owe big time-”

“Oh, yeah. Frank.” I sit up, stretching my neck side to side, before reaching for the glove compartment. “I almost forgot.”

“She told you?”

“She?” I turn back to Chloe.

“Future Chloe. I just-” She pauses, huffing out a breath. “It’s hella weird talking about stuff I haven’t done yet and I know you talk about her like we’re the same person, which I guess makes sense cause-” Her mouth clicks audibly shut, eyes widening. “...Ah.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” She reaches over and brushes my hair out of my face. “Just a lot to wrap my brain around, you know? So _I_ told you about Frank already?”

“Yeah.” I pop the glove compartment open. “I guess I kind of left a lot out of my recap.” Like finding Rachel and The Dark Room and…

Chloe’s rubbing circles on my back. When did that happen? “That bad, huh?”

“Yeah.” I sigh. “This is helping though.”

“Rachel used to do this for me when I… When it got really bad. Sh- _I_ told you about Rachel, right?”

“...Yeah.”

Her hands stop moving. “We didn’t find her did we?” Her voice comes out choppy.

“We-” Something must show on my face, because Chloe nods, pulling me into a hug as I try to do the same to her. “I’m sorry.” I mutter into her ear. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you.”

“I… kind of figured when you said I kissed you.”

“Oh. Yeah. Shit.”

“Heh.” There’s no humor in her laugh. “This is going to sound pretty shitty,” she pulls back and looks at me, “but can you...” Her finger twirls counter-clockwise. “I think I’d rather be high for this. Or drunk.”

“Are you sure?”

“...No?” A few tears start to roll down her face. “I don’t know. Do I?”

“How about I let you decide that for yourself when we get to your house. You probably shouldn’t be driving with this stuff on your mind.”

She nods. “Th-”

... _Rewind._

“...I told you about Frank already?”

“Yeah. You did.” I force a grin, looking away from her so she doesn’t have time to realize how faked it is. I wind up looking at the cops walking towards- oh, yeah... “His RV was actually parked right over there where those cops are standing last time.”

Chloe laughs. “Three guesses why he isn’t here this time.”

“... _Yeah_ . But I uh…” I pop open the glove compartment again and take out the envelope I’d stashed there with David’s gun during my fit of pique at Principal Wells. “Kinda took care of that whole _debt thing_ in advance this time.”

I can’t help but smile at the way the baffled expression on her face shifts to pure glee as she takes the envelop and looks inside. “Dude! There's got to be close to five thousand dollars here.”

“Yeah, it’s allegedly supposed to be the,” I make air quotes, “Blackwell Handicapped Fund, and I still feel kinda shitty taking it, but…” I shrug. “I know for a fact that Principal Wells wouldn’t actually use it for anything like that so…” I shrug at her curious expression, waving her off. “ _Long_ story. Weird story too. I’ll explain after we get to your place. The important bit is that I figured we might as well put some of his bribe money from the Prescotts to good use.”

“Hells yeah! I could pay Frank back tonight!”

“I think Frank can wait a night, Chlo.”


End file.
